Court of Appeal cuts safety fine by 72 percent

摘要

A 1,8m pounds fine has been reduced to 500,000 pounds by the Court of Appeal (R v C.RO Ports London Ltd [2016] All ER (D) 74 (Oct)). On 6 June 2014 Jason Houghton's arm became wrapped around a powered capstan while mooring an ocean-going vessel at a cargo dock in Purfleet. He was one of a three-man team securing the vessel's heavy mooring ropes to land at port operator C.RO Ports London Ltd (C.RO). The fingers of his left hand became caught between the rotating drum of the capstan and a heaving line. This caused his left arm to be dragged in and wrapped tightly about the rotating drum which was a few centimetres in diameter. A nearby colleague was able to cut the power, stop the capstan and release Mr Houghton's arm. He suffered multiple fractures and nerve and ligament damage and had to undergo surgery on a number of occasions. By the time C.RO was sentenced at Basildon Crown Court in January 2016 Mr Houghton had, in general terms, made a good recovery.